Playing The Melody
by FragilePuzzle
Summary: One fine day at Wammy's, Near wanders the orphanage and finds something he never expected to see...no pairings, written on a whim. Oneshot.


**A/N: **Haha, this is such a quick little oneshot…I wrote it while I was in the hospital today. No real reason…O.O

* * *

It was a rainy day at Wammy's Orphanage, so none of the children were allowed to play outside. Instead, they were all forced to stay indoors; much to both Roger's and Near's displeasure. To make it worse, almost every child was in the playroom—which is where Near usually spent his days. When he tried to relax and do a puzzle, he had become extremely annoyed at all of the noise the other kids were making and left the room, putting his puzzle safely away.

Near wandered about the large orphanage, looking for a quiet room where he would be able to settle down for the afternoon. However, he was curious. Near had seen all of the other orphans—Matt and Linda namely; what with Linda schoolgirl giggling at him from across the room, and the incessant beeping noises of Matt's videogames—but he had not seen his self-proclaimed rival. He had seen Mello's own personal gang of Near-tormentors, but the blonde ringleader himself was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, Near found himself outside of the music room. There was a beautiful sound—something that sounded like the piano—and somebody…singing? It wasn't a voice Near recognized, but it was flawless. The person singing hit every note perfectly, and their voice seemed to be a part of the piano. Near slowly opened the door a crack so he could peek in and see who it was. He saw a blonde in front of an ivory-colored piano, the black of his clothes contrasting deeply with the pure white. His back was to the door, so he didn't notice Near, but Near immediately recognized it as Mello. The small boy thought his eyes must be deceiving him, because this didn't sound anything like the loud, angry Mello he knew.

"Shit!" Mello yelled as his fingers slipped and he missed a note.

That was more like the Mello everybody knew and loved.

Mello sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face. He shut the lid on the grand piano, but continued to sing as he picked up his sheet music and backpack.

"_Careful what you do_

_Cause God is watching your every move_

_Hold my hand in the dark street_

_For if you do, I know that I'll be safe"_

As Mello sang the haunting melody, chills ran up and down Near's spine. Then the small boy decided it was time to go. He didn't want Mello to catch him, well…spying. However, as Near pulled the door shut, the latch gave a little "click" as it popped into place. This sound was not at all loud in the carpeted hallways, but in the music room, it echoed off of the hard marble floors. Mello spun his head around, immediately looking for the intruder. Then he realized he was too late—they had already gotten away.

He immediately thought that, whoever it was that saw him, would go back and tell all of the other children that the "badass" Mello played the piano and sang girly love songs. Yea, they'd have a right good laugh about that, and then his reputation as the most feared child in the orphanage would go down the drain. Mello quickly stuffed his music and chocolate into his backpack and started to run after the person who now knew his big secret.

As he slammed open the door, he saw somebody turning down the hallway. Mello barreled after the perpetrator, his sock feet thudding on the soft carpet. He turned around the corner, grabbed their wrist, spun them around, and saw a very guilty looking…

"…Near?" Mello asked, shocked.

The smaller albino boy didn't respond; he just stared at him with those creepy and dead onyx-gray eyes. He brought a hand up to twirl his hair again, but Mello slapped it away.

"Why are you following me?"

Near continued to stand there silently, his big eyes just staring into Mello's, unblinking. He reached his hand to his hair again, but Mello just slapped it away once more. After another long silence, Near spoke up, still not breaking eye contact.

"I was not following Mello. The children are in the playroom, seeing as it is raining outside, and I did not know if I could stand another second of Linda pretending not to stare at me, and the loud and irritating noises of Matt's videogames. They were disturbing my concentration, so I decided to look for a quieter room. It was only by chance that I stumbled across the music room."

Mello had finally stopped smacking his hand away, so Near brought a hand up and started to twirl a strand of hair around his index finger. Mello was at a loss of words, so once again, it was Near that broke the silence.

"Mello is quite talented."

Mello finally stopped focusing on the fact that Near had heard his horrible piano playing, and started to pay attention to the fact that Near had complimented him, when all Mello did was make Near's life a living hell.

"W-what?" stuttered Mello dumbly.

Near just eyed Mello again, his expression still not changing—not that it ever did—and continued to coil his hair into tight curls.

"Mello is very talented. He can play the piano and sing very beautifully."

Mello turned a light shade of pink and mumbled his thanks while scuffing his toe on the ground.

"Would Mello mind…finishing the song?" Near asked, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Finishing the song?" Mello echoed.

Near nodded his head and started to twirl his hair a little faster.

"S-sure, I guess."

Mello led Near into the music room and sat him down on a wooden bench. He plopped himself in front of the piano, and began to play. His fingers absolutely flew across the elephant tusk keys, and his voice rang throughout the room.

"_Careful what you do_

_Cause God is watching your every move_

_Hold my hand in the dark street_

_For if you do, I know that I'll be safe_

_Even if I'm far away_

_And alone_

_I can be sure that you'll find me there_

_This, I know_

_You draw me close for a while_

_So quiet_

_You tell me everything_

_And if I forget what you say_

_Then you'd come to me_

_And tell me again_

_Yes you'd tell me_

_Once again_

_But what happens when_

_I know it all_

_Than what should I do?_

_After that_

_What then"?_

As the piano faded, and Mello's voice stopped reverberating throughout the room, Mello turned around, not even expecting Near to be there. However, before he even got to finish turning, he heard a small noise come from behind him. It was clapping. Near's clapping. The soft noise seemed all too loud in Mello's ears.

"Thank you," Near said.

"For what?" asked Mello, a bit confused. It's not like playing a little song was that big a deal.

"My mother…she used to sing that to me when I was younger. It is safe to say I have not heard that lullaby in nine or ten years."

Mello now felt a bit uncomfortable… Why was Near telling him this? Well, apart from the fact that he asked him to...it didn't seem like the kind of thing you told your number one rival.

"I apologize. I did not mean to make Mello feel uncomfortable," said Near, noticing Mello's fidgeting.

"No, it's no problem. Actually, it wasn't even you. I'm just not used to playing in front of other people," Mello said sheepishly, shaking his leg nervously.

Near apologized and got up to leave, but Mello stopped him.

"If you want, you can, um…come listen again?" said Mello, biting his lower lip, wondering if it was stupid to ASK Near to come listen to him. He quickly started to say "never mind" when a small smile broke out onto Near's face.

"I would like that very much."

From then on, every time Mello played piano, Near would slip in and sit on the wooden bench. He would listen with his eyes closed, and no matter how long it took, he would always listen to the very end. This was because, right before Near left, Mello would play the lamenting lullaby. Near would sometimes sing along quietly, and as soon as Mello was done, he would clap, say thank you, and leave without so much as a goodbye.

* * *

**End Note: **Yay for random crack I wrote when they had me all drugged up?

~FragilePuzzle


End file.
